RULES

PHOTO COMPETITION

NATURE AND HUMANS Photography Competition Third edition (2025)

Competition Rules

The ADF Foundation for Sustainable Development (www.fundacionadf.org), hereinafter the Foun dation, or the Organizer, an entity registered in the Registry of Foundations of the Ministry of Justi ce of the Kingdom of Spain, with the number 2.453, whose purposes have been declared by the Spanish State as of general interest, announces the Third edition of the NATURE AND HU MANS Photography Competition, hereinafter the Competition, governed by these rules.

The Competition has fifteen categories: six special categories, six thematic categories, and three additional awards (Young Photographer under 18, Young Photographer under 15, and People’s Choice).

The Competition is endowed with €14,000 (fourteen thousand euros) in prizes; of which more than €9,000 (nine thousand euros) will be in cash. It is, accordingly, one of the most generous in the Spa nish and international circuit.

It will have a jury composed of photographers of great international prestige.

We propose three special categories for photojournalism and conservation (called “Conservation Photography”) which offer 2,000 euros in cash each (6,000 euros in cash, between the three of them) donated by the Foundation. Another special category, called “Nature, Told by Women”, also offers 2,000 euros in cash, donated by the Foundation.

There are two other special categories, called “The Beauty of the Planet” and “The Beauty of Spain” which are sponsored by WildWatchingSpain.

The six thematic categories – mammals, birds, oceans, other animals, landscape, and creative – are sponsored by SONY, the world’s leading brand of photographic equipment, by Fotografiarte one of the best photographic equipment distributors in Spain, and by the Foundation.

Furthermore, we have three additional awards: Young Photographer under 18, Young Photograp her under 16, and a People´s Choice Award.

In this 2025 edition we will have again the generous support of FONAMAD (Association of Nature Photographers of Madrid), and PANGEA (the largest travel retailer in Spain).

RULE 1 – PARTICIPANTS

The NATURE AND HUMANS Photography Competition is open to all photographers, amateur and professional, of any nationality. Each participant will need to have a valid e-mail address.

WHAT IS CONSERVATION PHOTOGRAPHY?

The soul of the competition: conservation

Jacques Cousteau famously said that “human beings only protect what they love, and only love what they know”. At the ADF Foundation we want to ensure that all people – and especially the new genera tions – make a lifelong commitment to the conservation of nature. Education is key. And we believe that one of the best way to achieve this, is to showcase the immense beauty of our nature, using the univer sal power of photography. Which is why, in this Competition, we are looking for images:

spectacularly beautiful, and/or thought-provoking,
that will inspire the viewer with the need to conserve the wonderful nature that surrounds us, • that will contribute to environmental education and awareness, and
that will help us reflect on the relationship between people and nature.

Although the list is not intended to be exhaustive, here are some examples of conservation-inspiring images:

Threatened or endangered species, according to the IUCN.
Protected areas, not only the most iconic ones (such as the Arctic, the Amazon…), but also other pro tected natural spaces that are closer to home.
Particularly love-inspiring or motivating scene.
Examples, positive or negative, of the sometimes complex relationship between humans and nature.

We encourage, and will especially appreciate, entrants to explain, in the description of their submitted photographs, what they see in their images that inspires and helps nature conservation,.

RULE 2 – CATEGORIES

The following is a list of the competition categories, starting with the six special categories, follo wed by the six thematic categories, and the Young Photographer and People’s Choice awards. All the details on prizes can be found on Rule 4.

01 – Special Category “Conservation Photography – Thematic Series”

This category awards a series of six images, with a common, strong conservation theme. The winning series will receive a cash prize of €1,500, and the runner-up series will receive a cash prize of €500.

02 – Special Category “Conservation Photography – Single Image”

This category awards a single image, with a strong conservation content. The winning image will receive a cash prize of €1,500, and the runner-up image will receive a cash prize of €500.

03 – Special Category “Conservation Photography – Spain”

A single image, with a strong conservation content, taken in Spain. The winning image will re ceive a cash prize of €1,500, and the runner-up image will receive a cash prize of €500.

04 – Special Category “Nature, narrated by Women”.

This exciting category awards a story – narrated through a series of 6 images – about Nature, by a female photographer. The winning story will receive a cash prize of 1,500 euros, and will receive coverage by The runner-up story will receive a cash prize of €500. Both cash prizes are offered by the Foundation.

The three special ‘Conservation Photography’ categories are looking for images that investigate the relationship between the natural environment and us humans. Images can be challenging, uplifting, provocative or revealing, and should illustrate how our attitudes, decisions and actions impact on the natural environment, positively or negatively. Originality will be particularly valued, and that the images help to reinforce environmental awareness. The author has to explain the event being reported in detail, providing concrete data. The judges will have access to this information during the selection phases.

Likewise, the three special ‘Conservation Photography’ categories are the only categories that accept images of animals that are not free or wild: animals in recovery centres, or in situations of economic exploitation (macro-farms, circuses, slaughterhouses, etc.), or similar. They are also the only ones that allow images of lifeless animals (species trafficking, poaching, articles made from animal parts, etc.). Although these three special categories, because of their denouncing content, may lend themselves to particularly harsh or crude images, the Organizers wish to clarify that this will not necessarily be seen as an attraction of the image.

05 – Special Category “The Beauty of the Planet”.

An individual image, showing the astonishing beauty and fragility of our planet’s animal species. Images submitted in this category must have been taken during an international photo graphy trip organized by Wildwatching Spain, after 1-1-2021.

06 – Special Category “The beauty of Spain”.

An individual image, showing the astonishing beauty and fragility of Spain’s animal species. The images submitted in this category must have been taken in a photography hide ma naged by Wildwatching Spain, after 1-1-2021.

07 – Mammals

Wild and free-ranging mammals, at any stage of their lives, anywhere on the planet.

08 – Birds

Birds in the wild, at any stage of their life and anywhere on the planet. Images of nests will not be accepted under any circumstances.

09 – Oceans

Underwater images taken in the seas and oceans of our Planet. The animal species portrayed must, of course, be completely wild.

10 – Other animals

Images of any other wild and free-ranging animal, not included in the categories Mammals, Birds, and Oceans, at any stage of their life, and anywhere on the Planet.

11 – Landscape

Images of any of the natural paradises still found on our Planet.

12 – Creative

The images submitted in this category must propose new visions of the natural world that go be yond the obvious. Using a visual language centered on colors, shapes, tones and textures, with a strong emphasis on abstraction and originality, the aim of this category is to seduce, surprise, arouse emotions and help the viewer to surrender to contemplation.

13 – Young Photographers – under 18

In this category we welcome Nature images, with no restrictions on subject matter and content (except, of course, that they comply with the Competition’s code of ethics), taken by photograp hers who are between 15 and 18 years of age on 1 June 2025.

14 – Young Photographers – under 15

15 – People’s Choice

The Jury will select a series of images to be submitted to a popular vote, which will take place on the website or on the competition’s Instagram.

During judging, and only with the express agreement of the Jury, the Organizers reserve the right to move entries from one category to another.

RULE 3 – CODE OF ETHICS

The practice of any kind of photography requires a strong code of ethics, and in the case of wildlife photography, this requirement is even more important. It is essential to avoid interfering with the behaviour of the animals, and of course even more so to avoid any kind of disturbance, stress or suffering. Animal welfare must always come before obtaining a photograph.

Therefore, any image for which the Jury can reasonably consider that the welfare of the animal has been compromised will be disqualified.

Furthermore, it is strictly forbidden to submit images obtained using live bait, a practice that the Organizers consider highly reprehensible from an ethical point of view, and which it advises against for all photography and wildlife enthusiasts.

Another essential aspect of the code of ethics in wildlife photography is authenticity and truthful ness. Moderate editing of images is allowed, but no distorted images of wildlife are allowed, except in the “Creative” category. If an obvious intention to deceive is detected on the part of a participant, the Organizers reserve the right to disqualify all images submitted by this person to the Competi tion.

The competition strongly recommends the Aefona Ethical Decalogue, which can be consulted on the competition website (www.natureandhumans.com). For further reference, we also re commend reading the highly valuable resources from the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP), such as “From Wild to Captive: A Call for Ethics in Modern Nature Photo graphy” (https://www.conservationphotographers.org/ethics-nature-photography) and “A light touch: Reflections on using additional light when photographing wildlife” (https://www.conserva tionphotographers.org/u/ilcp/post/ilcp-april-15).

RULE 4 – PRIZES AND SPONSORSHIPS

In total, the Competition offers 14,000 (fourteen thousand) euros in prizes, of which more than 9,000 (nine thousand) euros are cash prizes, as follows:

Special Category 01 “Conservation Photography – thematic series” The winning series will receive a cash prize of 1,500 euros, and the the runner-up series will receive a cash prize of 500 euros, both offered by the Foundation.
Special Category 02 “Conservation Photography – single image” The winning image will re ceive a cash prize of 1,500 euros, and the the runner-up image will receive a cash prize of 500 euros, both offered by the Foundation.
Special Category 03 “Conservation Photography – Spain” The winning image will receive a cash prize of 1,500 euros, and the the runner-up image will receive a cash prize of 500 euros, both offered by the Foundation.
Special Category 04 “Nature, told by Women”. The winning story will receive a cash prize of 1,500 euros, and the runner-up story will receive a cash prize of 500 euros, both offered by the Foundation.
Special Category 05 “The Beauty of the Planet”. The winning image will be awarded a 1,000 euros voucher, with no expiry date, to be redeemed when booking any of the international photo graphy trips offered by Wildwatching Spain.
Special Category 06 “The beauty of Spain”. The winning image will be awarded a 500 euros voucher, with no expiry date, to be redeemed when booking any of the wildlife photography trips offered by Wildwatching Spain.
Thematic Category 07 – Mammals. The winning image will be awarded with SONY photograp hic equipment, offered by SONY Spain. The precise equipment to be awarded is still to be con firmed but its RRP will in any case exceed 1,700 euros.
Thematic Category 08 – Birds. The winning image will be awarded with a 500 euros voucher to be redeemed for the purchase of photographic material at Fotografiarte, one of the best specia list photographic distributors in Spain.
Thematic Category 09 – Oceans. The winning image will be awarded 300 euros in cash, offered by the Foundation.
Thematic Category 10 – Oceans. The winning image will be awarded 300 euros in cash, offered by the Foundation.
Thematic Category 11 – Landscape. The winning image will be awarded 300 euros in cash, offered by the Foundation.
Thematic Category 12 – Creative. The winning image will be awarded 300 euros in cash, offe red by the Foundation.
Special Prize 13 – Young Photographers under 18. The winning image will be awarded with a set of photography books with a 300 euros RRP, offered by the Foundation (international ship ping cost not included).
Special Prize 14 – Young Photographers under 15. The winning image will be awarded with a set of photography books with a 300 euros RRP, offered by the Foundation (international ship ping cost not included).
Special Prize 15 – People’s Choice Award. The winning image will be awarded with a set of photography books with a 300 euros RRP, offered by the Foundation (international shipping cost not included).

In addition, FONAMAD will offer free membership during the year 2025 to all awardees (winning image, honourable mention, or finalist), or a gift of similar value, if the awardees are already FO NAMAD members.

RUNNER-UP and FINALISTS. One Runner-Up and at least two Finalist images will be awarded in each of the categories.

All category-winning images and all Runner-Up images may request their corresponding diploma in digital format from the Organizers.

In addition, all category winning images may request a free copy of the printed catalogue of the Competition, which will be published before year-end (international shipping cost not included).

All category-winning images and all Runner-Up and Finalist images will be published in a gallery on the Competition’s web platform (www.natureandhumans.com) and in the printed catalogue of the Competition. In addition, the Foundation and the other sponsors may also publish these images on their websites and social networks (see Rule 13 about Copyright).

The delivery of each award is a direct responsibility of each sponsor. The Organizers will put win ners and sponsors in contact, so that the delivery takes place promptly. Some prizes will be sub ject to withholding tax in accordance with current tax legislation, especially for Spain residents. The prizewinners must provide their full name, tax address and tax ID number in order to collect the prizes.

The Foundation would like to thank all the sponsors and collaborators for their generosity and sup port.

The Organizer does not rule out adding new prizes to those mentioned above. This will be duly announced and published on the Competition’s web platform and on the Competition’s Instagram (@natureandhumansphoto).

Also, the Organizer reserve the right to substitute the whole or part of any listed prize with an alter native of equal or higher monetary value.

RULE 5 – ENTRY FEE

A non-refundable entry fee of 25 euros will be required from each entrant, regardless of the num ber of photographs submitted.

FONAMAD members are invited to participate in the Competition for a reduced entry fee of 15 euros.

The Organizer can, at any point in time, extend the reduced entry fee of 15 euros to the members of other photographic associations. This will be duly announced and published on the Competi tion’s web platform and on the Competition’s Instagram (@natureandhumansphoto).

The entry fee will be paid by credit card or PayPal, following the instructions on the Competition’s web platform.

Entrants under 18 years of age can participate free of charge. They must have the relevant autho risation from a parent or guardian. They must not have reached the age of 18 by the 1st of June 2025. In order to participate free of charge, they must email previously the Organizer at natu reandhumans@fundaciondesea.es and be able to produce official ID as proof of age.

RULE 6 – SUBMISSION OF PHOTOGRAPHS AND THEIR REQUIREMENTS

Participation is exclusively digital, through the Competition’s web platform:

www.natureandhumans.com

Photographs must be submitted in JPG format and must contain their metadata or Exif data. This data is automatically encrypted and cannot be seen by the judges at any time, so it is not a pro blem if the metadata includes the authorship of the image. Images must be submitted without fra mes, signatures or watermarks.

IMPORTANT: the JPG image must have a minimum of 3000 pixels on its longest side and a resolution of 300dpi. The maximum size limit for each image is 100Mb.

Entrants may, at the time of submitting their photographs to the competition, also submit the RAW file of each image. This is voluntary at the time of submitting the JPG, but entrants might choose otro do so, in order to avoid having to submit the RAW if their entry is chose for the final phase of judging (moment in which, submitting the RAW image becomes compulsory).

Each entrant may submit a maximum of 30 photographs and is free to choose the distribution of the images among the categories.

The same photograph may not be entered in more than one category.

In the case of photographs that reach the final phase of judging, the Jury may request any clarifica tion it deems appropriate about the image to ensure compliance with the rules. Failure by the parti cipant to respond will result in the disqualification of the photograph.

Originality is important to us. The jury will take into account in its deliberations if any of the images submitted have won a first prize (absolute winner or category winner) in any of the main Spanish or international competitions if this circumstance is known by the Jury when their deliberations take place.

Each image must be accompanied by a caption, comment or description*.

(*) IMPORTANT NOTE: The description of each image shall include a brief comment by the entrant ex plaining why the image inspires conservation, in line with the comments in the opening remarks these rules. Failure to include this comment may result in the disqualification of the image.

The photographs uploaded to the Competition’s web platform will initially remain as “provisional” and may be modified or deleted at any time until the participant decides to close his/her participa tion, or on the closing date of the Competition, at which time the images submitted will be conside red as definitive.

For the avoidance of doubt: with the exception of the three special categories “Conservation Photography”, only images of free and wild animals will be accepted. If the the wild animal has been manipulated in any way, or its behaviour has been induced or influenced in any way (in cluding the use of bait, seeds or scent), this must be explained in as much detail as possible in the description of the image.

Images that do not comply with these rules, themes and categories (very especially, what is said in Rule 3 Code of Ethics) will be disqualified from the Competition.

RULE 7 – PROCESSING OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS

Only moderate processing and digital adjustments of the original photograph are allowed: ad justments to brightness, contrast, saturation, levels, curves, colour cast, etc. In any case, the ad justments must not fundamentally alter the appearance of the original image.

Moderate cropping is also allowed, provided that the resulting JPG exceeds 3000 pixels on its long side without interpolation.

The removal of dust particles from the sensor is allowed. Corrections for lens distortion and optical aberrations are also allowed. Adding or removing anything from the image, cloning, or similar image manipulations are not allowed. Submitted images must al ways be a true representation of nature.

RULE 8 – VERIFICATION OF JPGS AND RAWS

In order to verify compliance with the stipulations of Rule 7, all images in the final phase of jud ging will be checked by comparing the JPG file submitted to the competition with the original RAW file. Any image for which the original RAW file is not provided within the required deadline will be disqualified. DNG files will only be accepted as RAW files if this is the original file from the ca mera or drone.

The technical shooting parameters will be automatically extracted from the data embedded in the image file, so they do not need to be detailed and must be present in each JPG photograph sub mitted.

RULE 9 – KEY DATES

The most important dates of the Competition are:

24th May 2025 – Opening of the submission period of the Competition.
1st September 2025 (23:59h) – Deadline for submission of photographs.
15th September 2025 – RAW file request, for the shortlisted images.
28th September 2025 (23:59h) – Deadline for submission of RAW file.
October 2025 – Jury deliberations, voting rounds, and final decision.
November 2025 – Announcement of winning images (except the People’s Choice Award).
December 2025 – The People’s Choice Award is announced. The Organizers will contact the winners and the sponsors to arrange the delivery of awards. The Organizers will send the com petition catalogue in PDF to all participants. Online award ceremony, if applicable.

In principle, the deadline for submitting photographs will not be extended. The Organizers may de cide to grant a short extension only in very special circumstances. Sufficient publicity will be given to this decision, on the competition website, and on the Competition’s Instagram (@natureand humansphoto). This could lead to a slight variation in the rest of the dates.

An online awards ceremony may be organized with the aim of raising awareness about the Com petition and the winning images to as wide an audience as possible.

RULE 10 – THE JURY

The Jury is made up of photographers and/or nature and conservation experts of ample national and international prestige. Their names and a brief biography will be published on the competition website.

The members of the Jury will make their assessments of each image individually through the Competition’s web platform and without knowing the authorship of the image at any time.

All decisions shall be taken collegially by the Jury, and shall be final.

Neither the members of the Jury, nor the Director of the Competition, nor their close relatives, are allowed to participate in the Competition.

RULE 11 – CONTACT

The Competition Organizer might contact all entrants using the following email address: info@fundacionadf.org. We recommended all entrants to include this address in their email con tacts, in order to avoid communications being blocked by security and anti-spam systems.

Entrants with questions or comments of a technical nature or suggestions, can also contact the Director of the Competition, Arturo de Frías, at the same email address info@fundacionadf.org

RULE 12 – SPECIAL COLLABORATORS

Special collaborators of the competition are: FONAMAD (Association of Madrid Nature Photograp hers), Viajes de Autor SL, through its brand, PANGEA The Travel Store, Grávalos Aplicaciones Gráficas and NCJ Media Solutions.

RULE 13 – INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND COPYRIGHT

All entrants must be the sole copyright holders of the submitted photographs and are fully responsible for ensuring that no third party rights exist in the works submitted. Therefore, the entrants shall be liable to the Competition and to the Organizer for all financial burdens that may arise in favour of third parties as a result of actions, claims or disputes arising from the en

trants’ failure to comply with these obligations.

Both the Foundation and the sponsors and special collaborators of the Competition may make and store copies of the awarded photographs (Winner, Runner-Up and Finalists) for reproduction, in digital or printed format, in exhibitions, projections or publications, including their inclusion, temporarily or permanently, on the Competition’s website or on their web

pages and social networks. The Foundation, as well as the sponsors and special collaborators of the Competition may also use awarded photographs for the future promotion of the Competi tion by any means, including social networks.

The entrants retain all rights to the images submitted and assign only the non-exclusive right of publication and only for the aforementioned purpose. Any image published by The Foun dation, sponsors or special partners of the Competition must indicate the name of its author in a clearly legible form.

RULE 14 – CONDITIONS OF USE AND PRIVACY AND SECURITY POLICY

All participants declare that they have read and understood the conditions of use and the privacy and security policy contained in the “Legal information” section of the Competition website, ex pressly accepting them.

RULE 15 – ACCEPTANCE OF THE RULES

All entrants must abide to these Rules. Participation in this competition implies full acceptance of each and every one of these Rules, as well as of the Jury’s decision, which shall in all cases be f nal. The Foundation, as the Organizer of the Competition, may also resolve any circumstance not foreseen in these Rules, and its decision shall also be final. The Rules shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of Spain and the parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Madrid courts.

In the unlikely case of discrepancy, the Spanish version of the Competition Rules will prevail. Version finished on May 23rd, at 18h CET.